Story: New Zealand wars

In the 1840s and 1860s conflict over sovereignty and land led to battles between government forces and some Māori tribes. The most sustained campaign was the clash between the Māori king and the Crown. Land confiscations to punish tribes that fought against the Crown have left a long legacy of grievances.

In July 1846 Governor George Grey arrested Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha, whom he blamed for attacks on settlers. A rescue attempt failed, and government forces pursued Ngāti Toa and their allies into the hills behind Pāuatahanui.

Tensions between Whanganui Māori and settlers were heightened in 1846–47 by the arrival of British troops, the wounding of a chief and the hanging of Māori who killed four Europeans. Upriver Māori attacked Whanganui town, and after a battle at St John’s Wood a peace agreement was reached.

The Waikato was the home of the Māori king. The government wanted to punish his followers who had fought in Taranaki, and to make Waikato land available to settlers. Troops invaded in July 1863. War continued until April 1864, when King movement followers withdrew into what became known as the King Country.

Māori prophetic movements emerged to resist land loss. Some tribes opposed these movements, and numbers of kūpapa increased. The British government also began to withdraw troops.

In 1864 supporters of the Pai Mārire faith attacked British forces in Taranaki, and were defeated on Moutoa Island by lower-river Whanganui Māori. Pai Mārire spread to the East Coast, where its supporters were defeated by the armed constabulary.

Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki had been imprisoned on the Chatham Islands, where he developed the Ringatū faith. In July 1868 he escaped and returned to Gisborne, with 268 followers. He fled inland, and was pursued by the armed constabulary for almost four years.

Figures are uncertain, but about 500 British and colonial forces, 250 kūpapa and 2,000 Māori fighting the Crown may have died in the wars. Māori who had fought the Crown lost large areas of land – about 1 million hectares in total.